I Appreciate You
by EverlastingEvanescence
Summary: I decided to add a little MomGwen flavor to make an extended ending for the episode "Party Pooper", which was great BTW. Nikki decides to let Gwen know in her own special way that she cares about her and what she does for the camp. Seriously though, between this and "Kilik's Birthday Surprise", I have a thing with characters making cakes for others. Well cake is good, so...


I Appreciate You

Gwen was walking out of her room, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes in her pink bathrobe. Gwen actually felt really good about today after the talk she had with her father, her face displaying a genuine smile on her face. A small one, but a real smile for the first time in what felt like years. That smile soon left her face once she saw the kitchen, which was a mess, covered in cake batter, frosting, and sprinkles.

"What the hell happened in here?" Gwen mumbled to herself, massaging her temples while walking around the kitchen, noticing that the floors were surprisingly clean for how messy the tables and countertops were. While she was walking around, she noticed Nikki sleeping on the floor. Nikki was covered in flour and cake frosting and curled herself up in a ball like a kitten.

"Well, that's something I never thought I'd see. It's pretty adorable though," Gwen mumbled to herself before she saw Nikki started sucking her thumb. Seeing this development, Gwen took out her cell phone, and snapped a few pictures of the sleeping Nikki, not disturbing her at all.

"Adorable," Gwen mumbled, looking through the photos before seeing the giant cake at the center of the kitchen table. It was covered in white frosting, with red lettering on the top of the cake saying 'Thank You, Gwen'. Gwen looked down at Nikki's sleeping form, and back at the cake, completely taken aback.

"Did…Nikki make this for me?" Gwen asked herself, running her pointer finger through the frosting, and took a taste. "It's good. Really good," Gwen mumbled, before cutting a couple of slices and putting them on some plates from the cabinet next to the refrigerator. When she went to cut more cake, she noticed a card next to the cake. It was a white paper card, with words written in crayon. The front said 'To the Best Camp Counselor Ever". Gwen smiled before opening up the card and reading what was inside.

"Dear Gwen, your Dad told me that you were feeling sad about being useless. I don't think you're useless. You've always helped me when I needed it the most. You comforted me when I had nightmares, you took care of me when I hurt myself, and you even give me a nice grown-up to talk to when I'm bored," Gwen read, smiling as she remembered the times where Nikki would come to her and talk to her about whatever was on her mind at the time. These topics ranged from her crush on Max to the animals that she had seen in the forest. Gwen laughed at the memory of a blushing Nikki talking about how much she liked Max.

"I've also seen what you do for the camp, like the cleaning, the paperwork, and all that stuff. I know that not everyone tells you this, but I appreciate you and everything you do for us. I know you're not the biggest fan of this job and us, but I will always be grateful for what you've done. Love, Nikki. PS, enjoy the cake. I made it myself thanks to some internet that I was able to get from Neil," Gwen read, with her eyes starting to tear up. Some of those tears even ran down her cheeks and landed onto the makeshift card. Gwen looked down at Nikki's sleeping form and kneeled down to give her a kiss on the forehead.

Gwen looked around the kitchen and found a piece of paper. When she got the paper, she grabbed a pen from the counter and scribbled something down onto it. Gwen put the note in her pocket, grabbed one of the slices of cake that she cut, and picked up Nikki. Gwen opened the door and walked to Nikki's tent so that she could sleep in her sleeping bag.

**Later that Day…**

Nikki woke up in her sleeping bag, yawning and scratching her head as she got up. When she turned her head to her left, she found a piece of cake next to her. Nikki recognized it as the one that she made for Gwen. Underneath the plate of cake, there was a note neatly folded up. Nikki grabbed the note and unfolded it.

"Thanks, Nikki, I appreciate you too. You keep me sane in all this madness. Love Gwen," Nikki read, with a huge smile forming on her face. Nikki sat criss-cross on her sleeping bed, unwrapped the cake, and started eating it, all the while thinking of what she could talk about with Gwen when dinner time rolled around. However, Gwen came inside her tent before Nikki could think of anything to talk about.

"Hey Nikki, how're you feeling?" Gwen asked, ruffling the top of Nikki's hair.

"I'm fine Gwen, thanks for taking me back to my tent. Oh, and did you like my cake?" Nikki asked, which Gwen responded with a nod, licking a couple of spots of frosting off of her mouth.

"It was surprisingly delicious. I even gave a few slices to the other campers and they loved it too," Gwen said, noticing Nikki's face starting to blush.

"Did…you know…Max like it?" Nikki asked, looking down at her pillow with a blush on her face. Gwen chuckled and gave her a pat on the back.

"He liked it, Nikki. And between you and me, I think he may like you too," Gwen whispered, causing Nikki to look up at Gwen with a large toothy smile on her face. Gwen laughed at Nikki's blushing and smiling face, before giving her a hug.

"Seriously Nikki, thanks for the card and the cake. I…really needed it," Gwen said, with Nikki nuzzling her head against her body.

"No problem Gwen, I know how it feels to have people look at me like I'm useless," Nikki admitted, looking solemn for a few moments before Gwen gave her another hair ruffle.

"Well, I guess we have more things in common than I thought," Gwen mumbled to herself, before hearing David calling her name. "I have to go, Nikki, I'll see you later?" Gwen said, getting onto her feet and heading towards the opening in the tent.

"Yep, and we'll have our dinner time talks as usual," Nikki said with a smile before Gwen gave her a thumbs up and left the tent. Nikki smiled at Gwen's disappearing form before she decided to finish her cake.


End file.
